There are now 47,437 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey; 1504 people have died from the illness.
“We have the beginnings of a flattening of a curve of new cases, but sadly, fatalities are continuing to spike,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who discussed this paradox with NIH Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In response, Murphy has signed an executive order Wednesday to further enforce social distancing.
- All non-essential construction across New Jersey will CEASE, indefinitely, effective 8:00 PM Friday.
(Exceptions include projects at hospitals and schools, transportation and public utility sector, the building of affordable housing, other individual housing sites that can adhere to strict limits on the number of workers on-site, and other limited instances.) - To prevent overcrowding at essential retail stores – particularly grocery stores – all essential retail must indefinitely limit the number of customers allowed in their stores to NO MORE than 50% of their approved capacity.
- Additionally, customers & employees must wear face coverings. Stores must also provide special shopping hours for high-risk individuals, erect physical barriers between customers and cashiers and baggers where practicable, regularly sanitize areas used by their employees.
“This Executive Order will also put greater protections in place for workers at our warehouses, and in manufacturing,” says Murphy. “No one should be working where social distancing isn’t being practiced to its fullest extent.”